A top Justice Department official who had been targeted by Republicans in connection with the Fast and Furious case has announced his resignation - and Rep. Darrell Issa said it couldn’t have come soon enough.

Gary Grindler, Attorney General Eric Holder’s chief of staff, will serve his last day at the Justice Department on Wednesday. As deputy attorney general, Grindler oversaw the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which led the failed “gun-walking” operation that allowed Mexican cartels to obtain hundreds of illegally purchased weapons.

“Throughout his tenure - as Acting Deputy Attorney General and as my chief of staff - Gary has played a central role in our work to protect the American people and I will always be grateful for his dedication to the Department, his service to our Nation, and his sound advice and personal friendship,” Holder said in a statement on Monday that praised Grindler’s work on the $4 billion settlement the federal government reached with BP after the Gulf oil spill.

Holder’s statement about Grindler’s departure didn’t mention Fast and Furious, and officials told Fox News the departure was part of the standard turnover between a president’s first and second terms.

“Gary Grindler was appropriately faulted by his Department’s own Inspector General for keeping information about a connection between the murder of a Border Patrol Agent and a mishandled department operation away from the Attorney General and the Department of Homeland Security. His departure from the Justice Department is warranted and long overdue,” Issa said in a statement. “Other figures in Operation Fast and Furious are currently being evaluated for their conduct in the reckless effort that needlessly placed lives in danger. I expect more departures and discipline to come.”

A report on Fast and Furious from the Justice Department’s inspector general recommended disciplinary action against Grindler and 13 other officials. A report from Issa’s committee took direct aim at Grindler, accusing him of “pass[ing] the buck to underlings” and failing to take charge of the department.

Margaret Richardson, currently Grindler’s deputy, will take over his position.